The Tunnel | CBSE Class 7 English Notes

This note covers Ruskin Bond's story "The Tunnel": a part-by-part summary, the characters, the themes, the narrative devices, key quotations and answers to the textbook questions.

What is "The Tunnel" about?

"The Tunnel" is a story by Ruskin Bond, placed in the unit "Travel and Adventure". It is set beside a railway tunnel cut through a forested hillside.

A town boy named Suraj cycles out to the jungle to watch the midday train burst out of the tunnel, and then walks through the tunnel himself out of curiosity.

There he meets Sunder Singh, the tunnel's watchman, who lives alone in a hut near the entrance and inspects the line before every train.

The story follows their growing friendship, a tense night when they must drive a leopard off the tracks before the night mail arrives, and a final glimpse of the watchman's lamp seen from a moving train a week later.

The story explores curiosity, courage and a quiet respect for the jungle and its creatures.

What happens in the story, part by part?

Part I: Suraj meets the watchman

It is almost noon and the jungle is "very still, very silent". Suraj waits near the tunnel to watch the steam engine come "roaring out of the tunnel", "snorting and puffing like some green, black, and gold dragon".

After it passes, he walks into the tunnel out of curiosity, though "there was nothing to do in the tunnel and nothing to see". The walls are damp, a bat flies past and a lizard scuttles between the lines.

Coming out, dazzled by the light, Suraj glimpses "a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail" moving between the trees. He then meets Sunder Singh at the watchman's hut, with its marigolds and vegetable patch.

Sunder Singh explains that he has "lent" the tunnel to the Government, describes his daily duty of walking the line and signalling danger with a red flag by day or a lamp by night, and reveals that the animal Suraj saw was "my leopard", which "minds its own business" and visits the range every month.

He invites Suraj to return that evening to see the night mail come through.

Part II: The leopard in the tunnel

The next evening, as flying foxes "swooped silently" from the trees, Suraj returns. He and Sunder Singh drink tea while the tailorbird and "seven sisters" call.

Sunder Singh goes to inspect the tunnel with his lamp and notices "a padded footfall, a rustle of dry leaves" but says nothing.

Ten minutes before the night mail is due, they both hear "a rhythmic sawing sound" and realise the leopard is in the tunnel.

Fearing it will be "run over and killed", Sunder Singh takes his axe and goes in with Suraj close behind, shouting to scare the animal off.

They find it crouching five metres away, "baring its teeth and snarling"; their shouts send it fleeing into the darkness, and the night mail passes safely through moments later.

A week later, Suraj travels through the same tunnel at night with his father on the way to Delhi.

As the train passes, Suraj sees Sunder Singh's lamp in the darkness and thinks of him as a watchman "who would always remain a firefly for those travelling thousands as he lit up the darkness for steam engines and leopards."

Who are the characters?

Suraj

Suraj is a town boy who is drawn to the jungle out of pure curiosity.

He cycles out alone to watch trains, walks through the dark tunnel "so that he would know what the inside of a tunnel was really like", and chooses to follow Sunder Singh into the tunnel to face the leopard rather than "sitting here alone in the dark".

His father later remarks, "I don't know where he gets to, most of the time", showing that Suraj often wanders off exploring on his own. This makes him a figure of both curiosity and quiet courage.

Sunder Singh

Sunder Singh is the solitary watchman of the tunnel, who has lived in the jungle for "many years".

He is calm, humorous and deeply familiar with the forest and its creatures, saying "it is safer in the jungle than in the town".

He is also responsible and courageous: he risks the leopard's attention with only an axe to save it from being run over, because he "can't let that happen".

The leopard

The leopard is Sunder Singh's familiar jungle visitor, which "comes to this range for a few days every month".

The watchman describes it as a leopard "that minds its own business" and has "a weakness for goats and stray dogs" but does not harm people it knows. It represents the story's theme of coexistence between humans and wildlife.

When confronted by shouting voices in the tunnel, it quickly "disappeared into the darkness" rather than attacking.

What themes does the story explore?

Curiosity and the spirit of adventure

Suraj's actions throughout are driven by curiosity rather than any practical need. He watches the train "though he wasn't catching a train", and walks through the tunnel simply to see what it is like, even though there is "nothing to see".

This restless curiosity is what brings him into contact with the watchman, the leopard and the jungle at night.

Friendship across differences

Suraj and Sunder Singh come from very different worlds, a town boy and a lonely jungle watchman, yet they form an easy friendship built on shared tea, stories and trust.

Sunder Singh welcomes Suraj warmly ("I don't often have visitors"), and Suraj chooses to stay with him rather than go home, showing how curiosity and company can bridge an age and background gap.

Living alongside nature

Sunder Singh's life shows a quiet coexistence with the jungle: he knows the leopard personally, keeps a vegetable patch and marigolds by his hut, and insists the forest is "safer" than the town.

The story repeatedly personifies the jungle as alive, with trees that seem to "flinch" and a forest that seems to "breathe" after the train passes.

Duty and quiet courage

Sunder Singh's duty as watchman requires daily vigilance, walking the tunnel before every train and signalling danger with a flag or lamp.

His courage is clearest when he enters the tunnel with only an axe to drive out a leopard he could simply have ignored, risking himself to save both the animal and the oncoming train.

What are the key quotations?

"It is truly my tunnel, since no one else will have anything to do with it."
Sunder Singh, on his claim to the tunnel

"It is safer in the jungle than in the town. Nothing happens to me out here."
Sunder Singh, comparing jungle and town

"Not this leopard. It knows me well. We have seen each other many times."
Sunder Singh, reassuring Suraj

"snorting and puffing like some green, black, and gold dragon"
narrator, describing the steam engine

"Suraj didn't stop, because there was nothing to do in the tunnel and nothing to see."
narrator, on Suraj's curiosity

"...who would always remain a firefly for those travelling thousands as he lit up the darkness for steam engines and leopards."
narrator, describing Sunder Singh

What narrative and descriptive devices does the author use?

Ruskin Bond builds the jungle setting through vivid simile and personification. The train is compared to "some green, black, and gold dragon, some beautiful monster out of Suraj's dreams", a simile that makes the machine feel wild and alive.

The railway lines are described as "two straight black serpents disappearing into the tunnel", again turning an everyday object into something creature-like.

The jungle itself is personified throughout: trees "seemed to flinch from the noise and heat" of the train, and after it passes "the forest seemed to breathe, to live again". This device makes the setting feel like a living presence rather than a mere backdrop to the human story.

Sound imagery is used heavily to build atmosphere, especially at night: the "sharp call of a barking deer", the "quaint tonk-tonk of a nightjar" and the unexplained "creakings and whisperings" of the trees create tension before the leopard's "rhythmic sawing sound" is heard.

Sensory detail also marks the tunnel itself, which is "damp and sticky" and turns "pitch dark" after twenty yards, making the reader share Suraj's disorientation.

What are the answers to the textbook questions?

Suraj knew the train was close because, in the distance, "a sound like distant thunder issued from the tunnel", which told him the train was coming through even before he could see it.

Inside the tunnel, Suraj found nothing of interest to see; it was pitch dark, the walls were damp and sticky, a bat flew past and a lizard scuttled between the lines.

Sunder Singh conveys about the tunnel that he has "lent it to the Government", meaning he considers himself its true owner even though the railway uses and maintains it.

Sunder Singh knew the leopard was in the tunnel because he and Suraj both heard "a rhythmic sawing sound, as if someone cutting through the branch of a tree", which Sunder Singh recognised as the leopard's call.

The leopard disappeared into the darkness because Suraj and Sunder Singh shouted together, and the leopard, "uncertain as to how many terrifying humans were there in the tunnel with him", turned and fled.

Suraj knew Sunder Singh was at the tunnel a week later, while travelling through it at night by train, because he saw the watchman's lamp glowing in the darkness, even though he could not see Sunder Singh himself.

Suraj's father took him to Delhi on a business trip because he felt it was "time he learnt something about my business", having complained that he did not know "where he gets to, most of the time".

Why does Suraj want to walk through the tunnel?

Suraj is not travelling anywhere and has no practical reason to enter the tunnel; the story states plainly that "there was nothing to do in the tunnel and nothing to see." He simply "wanted to walk through, so that he would know what the inside of a tunnel was really like."

This decision reveals a boy who is driven purely by curiosity rather than fear of the unknown.

He has already cycled far from town, left his cycle in a village and crossed a scrub-covered hill just to watch the train, and walking through the tunnel is a natural extension of that same exploring spirit.

The experience also sets up the rest of the plot: it is while emerging, dazzled by the light, that Suraj first glimpses the leopard on the hillside, which leads directly to his meeting with Sunder Singh and everything that follows.

His willingness to walk into the dark, unfamiliar tunnel foreshadows his later willingness to follow Sunder Singh into the same tunnel to face the leopard directly, showing that his curiosity is matched by a real, if nervous, courage.

How does Sunder Singh's system of warning the train work?

Sunder Singh has a fixed daily routine to keep the tunnel safe. "Every day, before the train came through, he would walk the length of the tunnel." If all is well, "he would return to his hut and take a nap." If something is wrong, "he would walk back up the line and wave a red flag, and the engine driver would slow down."

At night the same system continues with a lamp instead of a flag: "the watchman lit an oil lamp and made a similar inspection of the tunnel." If there is danger, "he'd go back up the line and wave his lamp to the approaching engine"; if all is well, "he'd hang his lamp at the door of his hut and go to sleep."

The story notes one exception to this system: Sunder Singh "would not stop the train if there was a porcupine on the line", showing that his warnings are reserved for genuine dangers rather than every small animal on the track.

This simple, repeated routine of walking, checking and signalling is what keeps both the train and the jungle's creatures safe, and it is this very system that is tested on the night the leopard enters the tunnel.

Why is Sunder Singh called a "firefly"?

The description comes at the very end of the story, when Suraj, travelling through the tunnel by train with his father, sees Sunder Singh's lamp glowing in the darkness without being able to see the watchman himself.

The narrator calls him "the watchman with the lamp, who would always remain a firefly for those travelling thousands as he lit up the darkness for steam engines and leopards."

A firefly is a small creature that produces its own brief, glowing light in the dark, usually unnoticed except for that light.

The comparison suggests that to the hundreds of passengers rushing past on the night mail, Sunder Singh himself is invisible and unknown; all they ever glimpse is his lamp, a tiny point of light in a vast, dark jungle.

Yet that small light carries real meaning. It is the same lamp that warns engine drivers of danger and that Sunder Singh used to drive the leopard from the tracks.

The image of the firefly therefore captures both how little the watchman is noticed by the world he quietly protects, and how essential his small, steady light is to the safety of "steam engines and leopards" alike.

Glossary

• Shimmered — shined with a light that appears to move, as the heat waves did along the railway embankment at noon
• Railway embankment — a raised stone wall built to carry the railway track safely over low or uneven ground
• Cutting — a narrow valley cut through the side of a hill to make room for a railway line to pass
• Scrub-covered — describing a low hill covered with short trees and bushes rather than tall forest or open ground
• Instinctively — acting suddenly without any thought or plan, as Suraj stepped back when the steam engine roared past him
• Plume of smoke — a long, thin, drifting cloud of smoke left trailing above the trees after the train has gone
• Contemplation — a state of deep, quiet thought, as when Suraj stood watching the smoke drift over the shisham trees
• Scuttled — ran hurriedly with quick, small steps, as the lizard did between the railway lines inside the dark tunnel
• Dazzled — temporarily blinded by a sudden bright light after coming out of darkness, as Suraj was on leaving the tunnel
• Range — a stretch of forest or hill country that an animal regularly visits or moves through over time
• Night mail — a mail and passenger train that runs during the night, passing through the tunnel around nine o'clock
• Nightjar — a nocturnal bird with a short bill, heard making a quaint "tonk-tonk" sound in the dark forest
• Lithe — thin and graceful in movement, a word used to describe the leopard crouching between the tracks
• Sinewy — lean, muscular and strong-looking, another word used to describe the body of the leopard in the tunnel
• Defying — openly opposing or challenging something powerful, as the roaring engine seemed to defy the silent jungle around it

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Sunder Singh legally owns the tunnel. Correct: He jokingly says it is "truly my tunnel" but adds he has only "lent it to the Government", meaning the Government actually operates it.
• Misconception: the leopard is a dangerous man-eater. Correct: Sunder Singh calls it a leopard that "minds its own business" and has "a weakness for goats and stray dogs", not people.
• Misconception: Suraj is too frightened to enter the tunnel with the leopard inside. Correct: he is nervous and unable to shout at first, but he still insists on going in with Sunder Singh.
• Misconception: Sunder Singh stops the train for any animal on the line. Correct: the text says he "would not stop the train if there was a porcupine on the line", only for real danger.
• Misconception: Suraj meets Sunder Singh only once in the story. Correct: he visits twice, once in the afternoon and again the following evening, before passing through by train a week later.
• Misconception: Suraj's father takes him to Delhi for a holiday. Correct: it is a business trip, and his father wants Suraj to "learn something about my business".
• Misconception: the story says Suraj actually sees the leopard clearly the first time. Correct: he sees only "a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail" for a second or two.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. What did Suraj see when he first came out of the tunnel? [2 marks]

1. Coming straight from the dark tunnel into the light, Suraj was dazzled by the sudden glare.
2. Looking up at the hillside, he saw "a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail" between the trees for a second or two.

Q2. Why did Sunder Singh say that it was "truly" his tunnel? [2 marks]

1. He meant it humorously, because no one else bothered with the lonely tunnel.
2. He said he had only "lent it to the Government", not given it away.

Q3. How did Suraj and Sunder Singh know that the leopard was inside the tunnel, and what did they do about it? [3 marks]

1. They both heard "a rhythmic sawing sound", which Sunder Singh recognised as the leopard.
2. Sunder Singh took his axe and went in with his lamp, shouting to scare it away.
3. Suraj followed close behind, though at first he found he was unable to shout.

Q4. Describe the watchman's daily system for keeping the tunnel safe during the day and at night. [4 marks]

1. Before each train, Sunder Singh "would walk the length of the tunnel" to check it.
2. If all was well, he returned to his hut and rested.
3. If something was wrong, he walked back and "wave a red flag" so the driver would slow down.
4. At night he used an oil lamp instead of a flag, waving it if there was danger or hanging it at his door if all was well.

Q5. Why do Suraj and Sunder Singh form a friendship, and what does this friendship reveal about each of them? [5 marks]

1. Suraj is drawn by curiosity to the lonely tunnel and its watchman, having already explored the train and the tunnel out of simple interest.
2. Sunder Singh welcomes him warmly, saying "I don't often have visitors", showing he is glad of company despite his solitary life.
3. Their shared tea, conversation and the invitation to watch the night mail show an easy trust forming quickly between a town boy and a jungle watchman.
4. Suraj's decision to accompany Sunder Singh into the tunnel to face the leopard, rather than wait alone, shows growing courage and loyalty.
5. Sunder Singh's willingness to let the boy help, and his calm reassurance that "there is nothing to fear", shows his protective and trusting nature.
6. The friendship bridges differences in age and background through shared curiosity about, and respect for, the jungle.

Q6. Why is Sunder Singh described as a "firefly" at the end of the story? [3 marks]

1. Passengers on the night mail only ever glimpse his lamp, not the man himself, just as a firefly's tiny light is noticed rather than the insect.
2. His lamp, like a firefly's light, appears briefly in the vast darkness of the jungle.
3. That small light is still essential, as it warns engine drivers and once helped drive the leopard away.

Q7. Why did Suraj's father take him along to Delhi? [2 marks]

1. His father was going on a business trip and decided to take Suraj along.
2. He wanted Suraj to "learn something about my business", since he did not know where the boy spent most of his time.

Key takeaways

• Suraj walks through the tunnel purely out of curiosity, "so that he would know what the inside of a tunnel was really like".
• Sunder Singh jokingly calls the tunnel "truly my tunnel", since he has only "lent it to the Government".
• Sunder Singh's leopard "minds its own business" and visits the range "for a few days every month".
• Sunder Singh inspects the tunnel daily, signalling danger with a red flag by day and a lamp by night.
• The leopard enters the tunnel before the night mail; its "sawing sound" warns Sunder Singh and Suraj in time.
• Sunder Singh and Suraj drive the leopard out by shouting, and it flees, "uncertain" how many people were there.
• A week later, Suraj sees Sunder Singh's lamp from a moving train, without seeing the watchman himself.
• The narrator calls Sunder Singh a "firefly" who lights the darkness "for steam engines and leopards".

Test yourself

What sound told Suraj that the train was coming, before he could see it?

He heard "a sound like distant thunder" issuing from the tunnel.

What did Sunder Singh grow in front of and behind his hut?

He grew marigolds in front of the hut and had a small vegetable patch at the back.

What animal did Sunder Singh not stop the train for?

A porcupine on the line; he would not stop the train for that.

What weapon did Sunder Singh take with him to drive the leopard out?

He took his axe, even though he was sure the leopard would not harm them.

What two creatures could Sunder Singh's lamp warn away or save, according to the final lines?

His lamp lit up the darkness for both "steam engines and leopards".

How far away was the leopard when Sunder Singh's lamp first fell on it in the tunnel?

It was crouching between the tracks, only five metres away from them.

Why was Suraj travelling through the tunnel a week later?

He was travelling by train with his father, who was going to Delhi on a business trip.